Masonry structure and units used therewith



March 26, 1946. A BOHN- 2,397,119

MASONRY STRUCTURE AND UNITS USED THEREWI'IH Filed May 23, 1942 INVENTOR AuguJf B01271,

W JYIZZQ ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 26, 1946 MASONRY STRUCTURE AND UNITS USED I THEREWITH August J; Bohn, Fulton County, Ga.

Application May 23, 1942,. Serial No. 444,163

2 Claims.

The'present invention relates to masonry structures and units used therein.

In building masonry structures, it is frequently desired toemploy multiple walls in which the inner and outer walls, andoccasionally one or more inter-mediate walls, are spaced from each other to provide vertical channels or air spaces insulating the wallsfrom each other against the transfer of heat and moisture.

However, inmany cases where multiple walls would be desirable, for instance, in low-cost housing where the innerwalls could be finished smooth, with or without plaster, and with or without paint, the cost of the double thicknessof bricks or other masonry units is prohibitive considering the strength required and thepurpose for which the structure is to be-used.

In building multiple walls, the bricks in the severalwall sections are laid flat or on edge and usually. bonded together at intervals by a header. course of transversely laid bricks or metal ties, but thisisnotalways satisfactory, for the header course of the cross-laid brickschanges" the pattern of the walland with the metal ties the transverse strength of the walls is decreased. Also, the laying ofv the transverse bricks'or metal ties requires extratime and careful attention, which further increases the cost of. the wall;

Heretofore, it was proposed to avoid this extra' time/and work by providing a masonry unitin:

the form'of a brick which has an. integral lugi projecting at right angles; the. brick having: ad-i jacent vertical faces eachtequal'to the 'front face of a standardzbrick'. Inb'uilding; the wall, the:

bricks were So'laid that the lugs on the outerwallw'ould' over and underl-liethe' lugs; in the adjacent courses or. the inner wall; The; Wall: sections would thus be bonded togethenxbut: still a large amount of material would be required and the minimum double walllwhich-- could: be

built. would. be twelve inches: thickguusingfithe standard bricks which are eight inches long: Moreover; because of their proportions andfshape; the lugformed bricks of the prior art couldi not be" used to make a: strong interlocked corner structure and it was necessarythat the standard common bricks be used -to' build up: thecorners inthe'usual manner.

An object of the present inventionis to pro-: vide an economical multiple wall, structure using;- a minimum of material and yet one inwhich the. wall sections may be securely bonded together with a minimum of time and works H To thisend, thepresent. inventiomprovides-a masonry unitor brick-which in volumeor massis less than the corresponding standard brick and yet which has adjacent vertical faces which are the same as the" end and front face of the standard-brick, or are in proportions thereto.

If the present invention is ihcorporated in units having dimensions greater than those of the standard brick, though retaining the same proportions, then it will have a volume less than the corresponding volume of the standard brick or a: brickhaving the dimensions employed.

This is accomplished by omitting a section of the brick at its back and one end,.leaving wholethe front or stretcher face and the other or header end, which would be the exposed end of the'brick at acorner. I

This special unit or bonding brick is used ac-) cording to the present invention in the form at present preferred with bricks of half the width of the unit to build up the wall sections, the bonding brick being used to tie the wall sections together by being laidfiat with the lugs of the special units in the respective wall section in superposed relation, andto tie in partitions while the half-thick bricks are used at all other places; This makes adouble spaced wall whichis only sixinches thick (with; standard 'brick'dimen sions); uses muchless material than this kind of wall made with-standardbrick and yetwhich has; the outside appearance of. a wall madewith standard bricks:

A; feature of the-invention' residesinthe arrangement of the special units in the walls so at points spaced; fromthe verticaljoints of the.

other wall to give increasedstrength to -the walland eliminate through vertical joints.

The special unitsof-the presentinvention are used to form a strong rigid corner structure with the walls tied thereto, the corner having at least three points of-interbonding ineach course with theunits reversed in alternate courses so as to produce a closed box or pillar.

Walls of the desired strength may be produced with units of the present invention by interconmeeting and interbonding. two, three or more walls in parallelr'elation. If desired, additional strength can be given to the wall by providing the L bricks with apertures through which steel rods or other reinforcing-means canbe I inserted. Furthergwiththe units of the present invention,'the; separating walls for dividing the interior of the building or structure may be integrally-bondedand secured to the inner wall section for. the full height thereof In the broaderaspects of the invention, the part removed from the brick'of standard proportions to form the special unit may vary to satisfy air space and load requirements solong as the width of the stem of the unit is a fraction of the width of the unit. The other units used with this'special unit in building up the wall should have the same width as the width of the stem of the special unit.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the specification and claims when considered in connection drawing in which: 7 M V Figure 1 is a perspective view of a double wall.

Fi 2 is a perspective view of a special build-. 7

ing unit.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view offa triple" wall structure.

Fig, 4 is a perspective view of the wall showing' a reinforcing means in position.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of a corner showing the relative. positions of the units therein.

Fig; 6 is a perspective view of the inner wall section and a partition wall formed integrally therewith.

'As shown in the drawing, the walls of the present invention are made up of special units I0, straight units H and may include spacer units 12 if a half bond is desired. The units are arranged in a manner as will be hereinafter de-,

scribed; For the purpose of clearly illustrating and describing the invention, the units will be described in terms of the dimensions of the standard brick. It is to be understood that these dimensions are not limiting dimensions, but units may be made of different sizes so long as they retain substantially these overall proportions. 7 i

The dimensions of the units are approximate and a satisfactory structure will'be produced if the dimensions are maintained substantially to the proportions noted in'connection with the discussion of the individual units.

"The special building'units [0 shown in Fig. 2

have substantially the same dimensions as a standard building brick, that is, its length is eight inches, its width is three and three-quarter inches, and its height is approximately 'twoand one-quarter inches.

adjacent vertical faces having the appearance I of a standard brick. The back part of the brick V is cutout so that an L-shaped unit is formed,

the width of the brick along the stem of the L .and the width of the lug of the L being approximately two inches. The amount of cut out" may vary withthe requirements of the wall. In any case, the width of the stem will be less than the width of the unit.

In the illustrated form of the invention, the proportions of the unit with respect to the length L of the brick are that the width W is approximately one-half of the length L, andthe width This provides a pair of 2,397,119 7 I cial units in the wall to obtain a half masonry cial units and straight units in the two wall sec- 7 tions arranged so that the projecting lug of the V L of one wall'section extends into the space bei tween the two walls at a predetermined position and overlies and bonds with the lug on the L in the other wall section in the course below; This is shown in relation of units, Illa and Main Figs. 1and3. Y r

'When laying up thewall, the L'in one 'wall section, abuts the inner. surface of a brick in the other wall section at a distance one-quarter'of the length from the vertical joint as shown at I3 in Fig. 1. It will thus be seenthattherewill be no through vertical joints in the wall and a strong and watertight wall will be produced.

The building units of the present. invention may be laid up to produceastrong'and sturdy corner structure which ties in the two walls and provides a complete 'interbonding and tying in between the walls at the corner so as to forma rigid vertical box or pillar.

' As best shown in Fig. 5,v the corner is made up of three special or L units in each' course in abutting relation. It will be noted in the first course. that the unit lflb in the outer wall forms the corner with its header face to the left, and the end of the lug abutting the end of unit 100. .Unit I has the lug projecting toward the inner wall and its-.end abuttingthe 'end of unit l0d of the inner wall. Unit 10d has the end of its lug abut- I ting the stem of unit lb of the outer wall.. All

of the units are interbonded so that they form.

the sides ofthe rectangular corner structure.

Inthe second course, the units are reversed; and unit. We of the outer wall overlies and-extends over 'parts of units lflb and [0c with the header face facing "the right. The end of. the lug 01} unit we engages the endiof unit I fljin the outer wall which overlies the joints between unit lflb and the adjoining straightjunit H. The

end of the lug of unit l0) abuts the end of unit 7 mg of. the inner wall and overlies the joint between'units 10b andllld in the lower course and the connection between 10b and the straight unit II. Unit I Og'has the end ofits lug abutof the stem W and lug W isOne-quarter of the length L.- These proportions may vary within reasonable limits without defeating the accomplishments of 'the invention. q

The straight units II are substantially the same length and height of the L units and have a width substantially equal to the Width of the stem W of the special unit. .As here illustrated,

. the width is one-quarter of the length or two inches. 7

The spacer 'unlt I2 is ashort section which in practice is cutfrom the straight unit ll.-" It is used to properly space the straight and speting the steln of'unit I Be: and covers the connection between units I00 and 10d, with its stem overlying the straight unit. and. the spacer unit I2 on the inner wall. The threeunits' lll'e,

lOjand' [0g in the second course areallinterbonded and overlie and tie in together the units in the first course. This 'process' is repeated throughout the building of the wall so that a strong inter-bonded corner structure is provided} and; as shown in' Fig. l, 'the exterior of the corner has theappea'rance of beinlg madeup of standard units; 1?

' With bricks; of the present invention Having standard brick dimensions, a 'double' wall structure with an airispacejcan'bej produced which has a-maximum' depth of six inches." 'lhis'is a great saving. in material over the walls heretofore produced, for the smallest double wall made prior to the present invention was at least eight inches deep. When an air space was provided, it was usually at least ten or twelve inches in depth. The present invention, therefore, by saving a substantial amount of material, has greatly reduced the cost of the wall so that walls of this type may now be used in place of wooden constructions in low-cost housing now being developed. This is a tremendous advantage since brick structures are more durable and have less upkeep.

The cavity wall of the present invention, in addition to savin material, will provide space for burying the plumbing and other pipes, electrical conduits, and other wiring. Also, if the air space between the walls is not sufficient as an insulator, additional insulating material can be placed in the cavities.

In laying up the wall of the present invention, the exposed surfaces of the inner and outer walls may be laid to line and thus provided with smooth surfaces. The inner surface, if desired, can be painted over and used without further plastering or other treatment, or the paint may be omitted, or furring strips can be provided at any time or the walls plastered directly thereon later. In some instances the inner wall may be made of light colored brick and painting and plaster eliminated. Such walls can be readily washed at any time. These are further advantages when used as walls in a lowcost housing project or factory structure.

If the six inch wall is not sufiicient for the load requirements, the present invention may be embodied in a multiple wall structure having three or more wall sections as required. This is accomplished, for example, in the three section Wall shown in Fig. 3 by incorporating an intermediate wall having straight and special units with the lugs on the special units projecting from both faces thereof and tying in with similar units in the outer two walls in the-manner previously described. With standard brick dimension's, the depth of the double wall will be increased by four inch increments for each additional wall section.

The walls may be further strengthened by providing aligned apertures It in the lugs of the special bricks and inserting a steel rod [1 or the like therethrough to reinforce the same as shown in Fig. 4.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the arrangement wherein a separator or partition wall I8 can be integrally joined and bonded to the inner wall section. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 6, wherein the inner wall is provided with special units It], the lugs of which project from the face thereof, and the partition wall I8 is laid so that the straight units l I thereof interlock with the projecting lugs and tie the partition wall to the inner wall section for the full height thereof.

In the broader aspects of the invention, I am the first to build a double wall structure of a whole and fractional brick depth, with the whole and fractional bricks arranged in courses in each wall section so that the whole brick portions in adjoining courses are in overlapped relation.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. In a multiple wall structure having a plurality of wall sections connected by a corner comprising a plurality of L units having a pair of adjacent faces substantially of the same proportions and dimensions as a standard brick in each course of the wall sections, said units being secured together in abutting relation and the units in adjoining courses being reversed and interbonded with the course below, with the faces of standard brick proportions and dimensions of the unit exposed in the face of the wall.

2. As an article of manufacture, a building unit of standard brick proportions and dimensions having a portion of the back removed to form an L -shaped unit.

AUGUST J. BOHN. 

